Li calls for new kind of industrial revolution

Premier Li Keqiang has called on developing countries to seek "a new type of industrialization" and pay more attention to transformation and environmentally friendly development.

He made the remarks on Tuesday in a video message sent to mark the opening of the 15th General Conference of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization in Lima, Peru.

About 1,000 representatives from 172 countries are attending the meeting, which is featuring the theme: "Toward partnership for a new industrial revolution for inclusive and sustainable development".

The conference highlights the theme with the additional motto of "An urgent task", challenging all member states to take action, Li said.

The key to achieving the goals of the meeting lies in advancing the level of industrialization in developing countries, improving the livelihoods of ordinary people and lifting more people out of poverty, he said.

Jiko Luveni, Fiji's minister for social welfare, women and poverty alleviation told the conference that as the world approaches the Post-2015 Development Agenda, the international community must reinforce its commitment to poverty eradication.

"Poverty eradication remains the greatest global challenge today and is an indispensable requirement for sustainable development," said Luveni.

Established by the UN General Assembly in 1966, the Vienna-based UNIDO is mandated to promote industrial development and cooperation. It became a specialized agency of the United Nations in 1985 when the first Lima Declaration was adopted.

In June, Li Yong, the former Chinese vice-minister of finance was elected as the new director-general of UNIDO, the first Chinese official to head the organization.

In his address on Tuesday, Li suggested that member states should focus more on resource conservation and environmental protection, boosting innovation in management methods and encouraging technological progress.

"Let global industries upgrade in the process of development and develop in the process of upgrading," Li said.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said at the conference on Monday that "the world cannot achieve the Millennium Development Goals if it does not achieve other goals involving the sustainable industrial development of all the countries around the world".

On the subject of China's domestic economy, Li stressed that Beijing will "continue placing priorities on development and people's livelihood".

China will "further deepen its reform and opening-up, seek momentum from innovation, optimize the structure of industries and base its pursuit of a new type of industrialization on national conditions," he said.

Almost 40 years ago, member states gathered in Peru and adopted the Lima Declaration on Industrial Development and Cooperation, which aimed to increase the developing countries' share of world industrial production. It also paved the way for UNIDO to become a UN specialized agency.

Xinhua contributed to this story.